In the days of silent films, Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939) was the king of dramatic actors. He surged across American motion picture screens performing dangerous stunts such as jumping from one high balcony to another or swinging by a rope from an old pirate ship. Fairbanks was an expert swordsman and handler of guns, a fine athlete, and managed to win the hand of the leading lady with perfect manners in almost every film he made.

Douglas Fairbanks was born in Denver, Colorado on May 23, 1883. He was the son of an alcoholic father who left the family when Douglas was five years old. Born into the Jewish faith, he was taught at an early age to conceal this fact because his family considered it embarrassing. By the time he was just eleven years old, Fairbanks was acting in and around the Denver area. But New York City was where...